The Oracle's Apprentice
by eszterbunny
Summary: After Sora and Riku defeated Xemnas, he thought that all was lost, but he was mysteriously saved by the "Oracle." The Oracle has proposed an offer that Xemnas just can't resist, but will his taking the Oracle's offer result in tragedy?
1. Prologue

The Oracle's Apprentice:

Prologue-Xemnas's Awakening

**Xemnas's POV**

'_How could I lose? Me, the great leader of Organization XIII, the most powerful Nobody ever, how could I lose to those two little BRATS?!?!?!?!? And how can I still think? I'm dead, I've faded away, I'm gone, less than anything I've ever been, and all because of that stupid key blade bearer! The hate that I feel towards him can even penetrate my heartless body. I will get revenge on him, somehow.... someday... he will regret that he ever crossed paths with me. But first, I have to find a way to get out of here, wherever "here" is. There's darkness, endless darkness. Is this the end? Have I actually truly been defeated? After all of my efforts to gain hearts for me and my followers, was it all in vain? How could we, us NOTHINGS, become even more of nothing than we already were? How is that even possible?_

_'*Sigh* I have all of these questions, but none of them are going to be answered... Is this really the end that all Nobodies face? Endless questions, no answers, its torture... What did we do, that was so miserably horrible, that we deserve this kind of punishment? We can't help it that we were born, that we were turned into Heartless in our past life... I guess that life really isn't fair, and the people who want to live in it just have to deal with that. Why do some people get all the good things? They're not heartless, they aren't corrupt, heartbroken, or hate filled. They aren't Nobodies, crippled, and don't have a worry in the world. Who the hell makes these decisions?!?!? It makes me so furious! Who thinks that he's just so great that he can decide the fate of all other creatures? WHO HAS THAT KIND OF POWER?!?!?!?!?.... And if he can do all that, then he should be able to give us hearts... feelings.... the ability to feel pain, hurt, sorrow, love, happiness, joy, ecstasy... Would he do that for us? Maybe, but first I have to get out of here, but I'm only thoughts, I have no body.... I now truly am nothing... nothing...._

_'...Wait a second... I can feel my body; I can twitch my fingers, and feel the hard ground under me! Maybe not all hope is lost; we can come back, defeat Sora, gain hearts, and rule with power and glory! ...But first, I must find my comrades... This place is getting clearer, I can almost open my eyes, and I can stand up... If I open them, will I regret it? No matter, I can't let the work of my life be ended so quickly and mercilessly, I must rise again, this time ten times as powerful, and I WILL acquire a heart! No matter what it takes, this time I won't fail!'_

_With those thoughts, I opened my eyes to a swirling deep, purplish darkness. I turned around in a circle, absolutely lost, until I saw a bluish white light. I squinted trying to make out what it was, or who it belonged to. But it was useless. I decided to investigate. I made my way through the swirling oblivion, my mind still feeling disturbed. When I reached the light, it turned out to be some kind of a portal of light. I stuck my head through it, curious to what lay past this strange place. What I saw was more surprising than anything that could ever have happened to me. _

_I saw my whole life playing at different speeds and different times. Just floating about in a silver mist. I saw one that especially intriguing, it was me, or someone who looked like me, screaming, and being enveloped by darkness, and then being demolished by the key blade bearer. It was the last memory of my heartless... had I truly been beaten twice? By the same little brat? Rage started rising inside me, that's why I didn't notice the silver mist clumping together to form some kind of a ghoulish shape. The ghost like thing charged at me, it's shapeless body more frightening than it should have been. I yelled out in surprise and stumbled back and tried to block "it" from my face with my hands. My legs took me backwards, away from the portal, and the next thing I knew, I was enveloped by a white light and falling backwards, flying through the air._

_I shut my eyes tightly bracing myself for the pain surely to follow. I hit the ground hard on my butt. It turned out that I'd only fallen about five feet, not enough to truly injure me, but I was still a bit shaken up and confused when I stood up. Where was I? This new place was a glowing white, reminding me of Castle Oblivion, but this seemed more blank, and... unreal... I looked back to where I had come from, the portal that I had fallen through, but I was already closing, and disappeared in a few seconds. 'Well I'm not getting out that way....'_

_I sighed, closed my eyes, furrowed my eyebrows, and rubbed my temple. This was turning out be more than I could take after fading away... to where? "Yo, Xemnas!"...._


	2. Chapter 1

The Oracle's Apprentice:

1. Unexpected Reunion

**Unknown's POV**

I was watching Sora and Riku pummel Xemnas that one day. They weren't aware of my presence, but that was probably because I was watching from far away. I enjoy manipulating and observing objects of my interest from a distance, directly interfering with other's affairs can be dangerous. I learned from experience, a long time ago, when I was still young and foolish. But that's a different story.

It was quite amusing watching Xemnas being bested by two children, but apart from that, I was waiting for the right time to put my plan into motion. Xemnas plays a very large part in it, and I couldn't risk suspicion from his enemies. They had to believe that he, they, the Organization, was wiped out. It took precise timing, and in the end, even Xemnas believed that he was dead, "faded away" as they put it. "Fading away" is actually an illusion to make others believe that the individual who, "faded away, is gone. But truly, they have just been transferred to an alternate dimension created by, yours truly. Of course, you don't know who I am, but you will find out in time, and until then, you'll just have to keep on guessing.

After I'd transferred Xemnas out of Kingdom Hearts, into the mysterious oblivion between dimensions. I let him have a look back into his life, but he was starting to get angry, a useless emotion by my standards. It blinds you and your intuition is nearly, if not completely, destroyed. I had to stop him from doing anything that might damage the thin line of balance that he'd already disturbed by his crazed antics. I sent a mind ghoul after him. Mind ghouls aren't real, just conjured up from the very corner of the mind that holds the most darkness. None two mind ghouls look the same, that's because nobody's minds are exactly the same, which just proves the uniqueness of each being. Because mind ghouls are conjured up by your mind, they technically aren't real, but your mind makes them real. No one else can see your mind ghoul but yourself but if it attacks you, it can hurt you, even destroy you. Which just shows to prove that humans have a notion to destroy themselves built inside their minds. They often upset the stability of dimensions and I have to interfere with their affairs, and I don't enjoy doing that. And if I don't enjoy doing something, then I often am in a bad mood. Even I can lose my temper sometimes, resulting in catastrophes of the world that tip the dimension's balance back into place.

When I told you earlier that I'd learned from my mistake in interfering in other's affairs, it was because the balance was completely thrown of after I'd interfered. It took me most of my lifetime to restore the balance, not something that I would like to repeat. But now I'm getting old and I have an apprentice, someone to train to take over my job once I pass on, to finally sink into a quiet, peaceful place and rest. But I have to make sure that she doesn't make the same mistake that I did, but me leaving is still far off, she has a lot to learn. And I believe that Xemnas could help speed up the process. The Organization is powerful, but is full of idiots. Maybe staying with them will give her a sense of responsibility that she doesn't posses at the time. I've sent her to a blank dimension to bring back something that wasn't there before but now is.

After the mind ghoul scared Xemnas he stumbled into a portal which leads to the blank dimension. I've often used that dimension to train my apprentice, creating, destroying, and repairing stability of that dimension. That is basically the only power you can use in there, the power of the mind. Magic is powerless there and weapons gain minds of their own. That is a world run by my rules, completely blank and, at the moment, completely stable. This is where Organization XIII has disappeared to, that is where they slumbered until the last of them finally appeared in the dimension. Now they are awake, about to be reunited, my apprentice on the way to bring them here. This should be interesting…

**Your POV**

"'Bring back something that wasn't here before' my ass, this place is the same boring hellhole that it was before…" you muttered under your breath.

You'd just walked through the shimmering portal into the blank dimension. Why did it have to be so boring? It was completely white and you hated it, sometimes you thought that the Oracle was the biggest loser ever, but he could be pretty cool sometimes. Unless when he was in his fortune cookie mood, then he was extremely annoying.

You sighed again and looked around again, but this time, you saw a shimmer in the distance, like a portal opening, 'That must be what he was talking about… I better go take a look.' You thought. You closed your eyes and brought up the dimension's woven blanket in your mind. This particular dimension was loosely woven and nearly completely blank except for a few of the Oracle's law embroidered into it with a gold thread. Gold thread's can never be removed from a dimension, and only the creator of the dimension can embroider gold threads into the dimension, and since here it was the Oracle, these laws were, in your point of view, unnecessary and stupid. But, it was pretty funny to see someone get their butt kicked by their own weapon, so you had to be careful to only use hand to hand combat if you needed to fight. In your mind you pick up one of the smallest, nearly invisible threads and wrapped it around your finger.

You'd been walking towards the portal all this time and now you were almost there. Now, when you opened your eyes, you were completely blended into the white dimension, invisible. You saw a black-cloaked man with long silver hair standing in front of you facing away from you. He seemed to be concentrating on something, the way he was standing still. "Yo, Xemnas!" A voice called out from behind you, making you jump.

Xemnas looked up and turned around, looking for the owner of the voice, his gold eyes looking straight through you, and then widening in surprise and recognition. "Impossible." You heard him whisper, his mouth barely moving. You whirled around wondering what, who, you'd see. What you saw made you gasp in surprise, twelve people, eleven men, all dressed in identical black cloaks. You slapped your hand over your mouth and hoped that they hadn't heard it, but, as usual, you didn't have the best luck. All of the black-cloaked figures froze and looked to the place where they'd heard the tiny little noise from, it felt like they were staring directly at you, even if they couldn't actually see you. "What the hell was that?" a short, emo looking guy asked.

"I don't know Zexion, but I have a feeling that we're not alone." Growled a spiky haired redhead. You recognized his voice from the one who'd greeted Xemnas. His emerald green eyes where menacingly glaring at you, even the little red triangles under his eyes looked hostile. He uncrossed his arms and let them fall to his sides, where silver and red, wheels axel looking weapon appeared in each hand with a spin, his eyes still on you. "Come out, come out, wherever you are." He taunted, a half smile on his face.

You sighed and closed your eyes, mentally letting go of the thread wrapped around your finger. When you opened your eyes you where the center of attention, and even though you usually loved and craved attention, you wished that they could look away, you were starting to feel kind of creeped out. The only reason that you'd let the invisibility go was because you were in the blank dimension, and obviously, these strangers didn't know the Oracle's rules and how to bend them, you were going to kick butt.

The redhead smirked and said, "So this is our little spy, did you get lost going to the candy store?"

You cocked your head to the side and gave a cute little smile. It's true that you probably didn't look very menacing at the moment, since you'd just gotten out of bed, you'd forgotten to get dressed and were still in your pjs, which consisted of blue Winnie the Pooh pajama bottoms that were too long for you that the Oracle had gotten you for last Christmas. It was a thoughtful gesture, since you adored Winnie the Pooh, but at the time, you really wished that you'd put on different clothes. Your top was a giant Timone and Pumba T-shirt and you'd used a pink and sparkly princess tiara to keep your long, wavy, strawberry blond hair out of your face. 'Damn that Oracle… he should know by now not to send me on errands until I've fully woken up…' you grimaced, 'and the bunny slippers aren't helping either.' And there was also the fact that you had big, dark blue eyes that were framed with long blond eyes lashes that, if the person didn't know you, seemed pure and innocent.

"Did you get lost on your way to plastic surgery?" where the words that came out of your full, dark pink lips.

The redhead blinked and his smirk disappeared. You could tell that he was wondering what to make of you. You crossed your eyes and stuck out your tongue and it seemed like the rude gesture made him snap. He pointed one of his weapons at you. "Shut up or you'll get hurt…. Got it memorized?" He growled.

Everyone else had taken a step back giving you space; they sensed that a battle was about to start. "Sorry I have short term memory loss." You said softly with a tiny smile creeping onto your face.

The redhead's smirk returned and he spread his legs, getting into a ready position and spun the weapons in his hands. "Get ready to die, bitch." He murmured and something dangerous flashed in his eyes, as if he was going to enjoy hurting a poor, innocent girl who'd just woken up.

Get real. Its true that you'd just woken up, but you were grumpy after you woke up, and right now was no exception. Your little smile turned into a full blasted grin and your dark blue, violet-ish eyes glinted with mischief. You placed your hands on your hips and leaned onto your left foot. "Your going to get your ass kicked…" You said softly.

The redhead raised his weapons above his head "…in three…" and they started spinning wildly. ".,,two…" He threw one of the red and silver weapons in your direction and it came spiraling towards your head. "….one…" Just as the weapon was about to strike you in the eyes it stopped spinning and levitated and inch away from your nose. The redhead's eyes widened in surprise, "How can this be…?"

You closed your eyes and remembered the first time the Oracle had taken you here. He'd told you to attack him and you tried. You swung your staff at him only to be stopped by some sort of power. The staff was ripped out of your grip and started battering you until you were unconscious. After you'd woken up, the Oracle had explained the laws of this dimension and which one had done its work on you. "The one who lives by the sword, dies by the sword. Weapons brought into this dimension grow hostile if you try to use them. They turn on their bearers and if not stopped will kill them." The Oracle had saved your life that day, stopping your staff from bludgeoning you to death.

You opened your eyes just in time to see the weapon go whirling back towards its owner "…Blast-off…" The weapon slammed into his stomach, making him grunt and go flying backwards. The weapon spun off and then levitated a bit away from its owner, readying itself for another attack. The redhead got back onto his feet while holding his side. "What the hell just happened?" he asked himself more than anybody else. He didn't have time to figure out why this was happening since his weapon had started spinning again and was now coming back for another shot. He threw his second weapon to try to block the first one, but that one changed directions before it crashed into its pair and came rushing back at him.

The redhead couldn't believe what was happening and could only try to block the attack with his arms. He flew backwards again, landing on his back and sliding another ten feet. He groaned and got up again, this time spitting blood on the floor. He squinted at where he'd spit and then yelled in surprise. The bloody spit seeped into the white floor and disappeared, which was another one of the Oracle's laws. Any filth to find its way on any surface of this dimension would be disintegrated. Which made you wonder how come these guys were still here, they seemed like filth to you.

"AXEL, RUN!!" yelled a spiky, blond haired boy when he saw the weapons start to come back at his comrade.

Axel didn't waste anymore time staring at the now clean floor. He took off running with his two spinning weapons after him. He had such a frightened look in his eyes it made you crack up and laugh so hard that your face turned red and you were shaking. The scene was just too comical for you to bear. But then something that you hadn't expected happened. The weapons stopped chasing him and fell to the ground, Axel, noticing that they'd stopped their pursuit, bent over and tried to catch his breath. The rest of the black-cloaked figures were looking at you like they wanted to kill you, but didn't want to end up like Axel. Then a voice boomed through the dimension that could only belong to one person. "KRYSS, STOP PLAYING GAMES AND GET A MOVE ON. BRING THEM BACK HERE NOW OR PREPARE TO FACE MY WRATH."

The voice faded away, leaving you with an annoyed look on your face, "Geez, man, I was just having a little fun." You grumbled to yourself.

You looked up to see Axel looking like he was going to murder you. His right eye was twitching and his hands were clenched into fists. "Heh-heh, hi?" you said nervously, scared that he actually WAS going to murder you.

"RAAAH!" Axel roared and charged at you. You screamed and tried to run away, but he was faster. He punched you in the face and you were sent careening to the floor. You groaned in defeat but he wasn't done yet. Axel leaped onto you and pinned you down with his legs, and then he grasped your neck with his black-gloved hand and pushed his thumbs into your throat, closing your esophagus. He was strangling you.

You tried to kick him, but he had you pinned down too well. Your hands where trying to pry his off but with no avail. Your eyes were bulging and you where starting to feel the need for oxygen, where you really going to die like this? Just as you were going to pass out from lack of air, the weight was lifted off of you and you could breath. You started coughing and turned onto your stomach as you tried to catch your breath.

Someone patted you on the back and grabbed your upper arm to pull you up. Once you were standing you looked up at your savior. He had blue hair and an X shaped scar between his eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked in a concerned voice.

You looked behind the blue haired dude to see Axel sitting on his butt and looking pissed off. "What the hell was that for Saix?" he snarled.

You looked back at Saix, "Yeah seriously, why did you help me?" You knew that you weren't helping your situation, but you were curious. "Do you like me or something?" you asked with a flirty smile and wink.

Saix stared down at you with a blank face, "You're the only person who knows the way out of here. If Axel would've killed you, we'd be stuck here probably forever. This was not an act of kindness, and you are going to take us out of here."

You felt intimidated by Saix, the way he was glowering down at you, but you didn't let on. If there was something that you learned from dealing with the Oracle, it was that at times when someone was trying to scare you, you couldn't let on, or they'd get what they wanted. So instead of crying or whimpering, you just yawned and put on a bored face, even though your heart was beating a mile a second. "Fine, sure, sure. Just don't get your panties in a bunch."

You looked over at where the others were standing and motioned for them to come over, "Follow me if you want out of this hell hole."

You closed your eyes and conjured up the image of the dimensions woven blanket again. You took a needle and stuck it through the blanket, making sure not to damage any of the weaving. When you opened your eyes there was a shimmering silver-ish white portal in front of you. You were about to step through it but Xemnas grabbed your shoulder, "Where does this lead to?"

You blinked slowly and only opened your eyes half way before answering, "Out of here."

You tried going through the portal again and this time nobody stopped you. When you were on the other side you looked around to see the oblivion between dimensions. "Damn it! I forgot to connect the portal to the Oracle's mansion!" you groaned. You had only been partially kidding when you told Axel that you had short-term memory loss.

You conjured up the blanket again but this time there was another one too. That blanket was a rainbow of colors and not one piece of it was unembroidered. You pulled the needle through the Oracle's kingdom's blanket and connected the two with a white thread. When you opened your eyes you saw that everyone had gotten through and where giving you strange looks. "Sorry, my bad. This one will get us out of here." You said, pointing to the new portal in front of you.

By going through the new portal you finally arrived at the Oracle's mansion. The room that you were in at the time was made out of smooth black marble and had a black marble water fountain in the middle of the room. The rest of the room was empty and the only decoration on the fountain was a giant crystal ball with a soft gold glow emanating from it. On the other side of the room there were Four giant windows looking out over a rose garden that seemed to have every single type of rose that ever existed surrounding another water fountain, but this one with a beautiful woman sitting on her side and leaning on her left arm looking longingly towards the sea that could be seen glimmering past the dark mountains in the horizon. The statue was made of a sparkling black rock, adding mystery and allure to it.

As each black cloaked figure stepped into the room, it seemed to get bigger and bigger, as if to accommodate the new guests. Finally when all of them where through one of them, this one with a black pony tail with gray streaks and an eye patch, broke the silence by asking, "Where are we?"

You looked at each and everyone of them before saying, "Welcome, to the Oracle's mansion." Your words echoed into the darkness before disappearing. Suddenly, all of you were aware of another presence.


	3. Chapter 2

The Oracle's Apprentice:

2. Kryss

**Your POV**

An old man with long white hair down his back and a long white beard and Chinese mustache stepped out from the shadows into the soft gold light coming from the sunset outside and the crystal ball. He was extremely hunched over and his skin was saggy and wrinkled with age. His long bony hands held a gnarled oak walking stick, maybe even as old as the man himself. He wore a white robe that nearly reached the ground and gold sandals and a gold habit draped over his shoulders, glowing in the golden light. His dark brown eyes twinkled with knowledge and wisdom and smile lines could be seen around his eyes. He may have appeared frail, but when he talked his voice boomed with authority. "Welcome, welcome. Please excuse my incompetent apprentice, she can be quite rude and foolish sometimes." At this some of the Organization snickered and you crossed your arms and stuck out your tongue at the back of his head since he had turned away from you to talk to Xemnas. "She's also quite childish as you can see." At this you rolled your eyes and started mouthing what he was saying. "She's also unable show any level of maturity whatsoever and acts like a kindergartener." This made you annoyed so you picked up your staff and pretended to be whacking the Oracle with it. "But she's fairly harmless even if she can be quite a chore. I hope that you can forgive her behavior and realize that she cannot help it, she is after all, the most immature 17 year old that I have ever met."

Xemnas let out a sigh and gave a quick little smile. "She has been a problem, but I guess we could try to forget her behavior… If we got something out of this…"

The Oracle turned around just in time to see you wiggling your fingers around your ears with your tongue sticking out and your eyes crossed. You quickly stopped and gave an innocent smile. The Oracle just shook his head as if he couldn't believe you and replied, "Oh don't worry Xemnas. I already have a deal in mind, and it's one that I don't believe that you will be able to refuse." And with that last ominous sentence, the Oracle shuffled over to the door leading out of the room, and while he was still on his way, he hit you over the head with his cane. "HEY! What was that for?" you asked, rubbing your head where he'd hit it.

Instead of answering, he just hit you over the head again. "Ouch! Will you stop that?" By this time, your head was starting to ache.

"I will only stop if you stop doing that really annoying thing that you can't seem to stop doing." The Oracle replied wisely.

"Well, how can I stop doing it if I don't know what I'm doing? I mean that's completely impossible! Why don't you just tell me what I'm doing so I can stop it? Well, I mean, if I want to stop it. Maybe I don't want to, maybe I like doing it, but I can't say that I do or don't because I don't know what it is and if I don't know what it is then…" you kept on going on and on and on and the Oracle was starting to look pretty annoyed by that time.

**WACK!** "Yeowch!" he'd hit you over the head… again! "Seriously! Why do you keep doing that?" you asked with a pout.

"Because you won't stop." He replied again.

"Stop doing what?!??!?!?"

"Your doing it right now."

"…Huh?"

**Sigh** "You have to learn the joys of silence."

"….Did you just fart silently?"

"….. SHUT UP!!!" he yelled and whacked you again, harder this time.

He hobbled out the door and it slammed behind him. 'What's gotten into him?' you wondered. He was usually so peaceful and tolerant. Maybe something was bothering him…. But what? "Is he always that violent?" asked the older spiky haired blond, "He scares me."

"Wimp…" you muttered, still rubbing the sore spot on the back of your head.

The blond winced and said in a whiny voice, "I do have a name you know. It's Demyx… and I'm not a wimp, just… paranoid."

You gave him a skeptical look, "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Demyx." He frowned at that and then turned around, he seemed to be thinking.

"Well, you'd know about helping him sleep at night, wouldn't you darling?" sneered the pony tailed freak. How old was he anyways? He didn't look that old, but he was already graying… now that's just plain weird.

"Do you always talk to yourself, or is this just a one time thing?" you retorted. You hated guys who were so full of themselves that they thought that they could get away with anything. And this guy seemed pretty perverted too. Plus, he was weird.

"Tch, tch. Denial is a bad habit, you should stop. I'm Xigbar by the way, I didn't happen to catch your name though." Was he TRYING to get on your nerves? Sheesh, this guy seriously needed to lay off.

"Name's Kryss. Pleasure to meet you." You said with your voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Great, and now that we're on a first name basis, how 'bout we share that pleasure?" he said in what he probably thought was a seductive, sultry voice, and wiggled his eyebrows. Seriously, was he deaf? Could he really not hear the sarcasm?

"I have a better idea, how about I go and relax in the hot springs while you figure out a way to stick your head up your ass?" you countered.

"Do I get to join you after I do?" he asked, still grinning.

"No, you get to stick your head up your ass." With that you started towards the door, just to be stopped by Demyx, who finally thought of something to say. He grabbed you by the arm and looking into your eyes with a fierce serious look on his face that you thought was extremely hot.

"I'm not a wimp, and I can prove it to you." He said in a strong voice that didn't waver or quiver or any of the things that it had done last time he spoke to you. He seemed like a completely different person, and you liked it.

"Oh? How are yo-" You were cut off by Demyx slamming his lips onto yours and grabbing your waist to pull you closer. You were so surprised by the kiss that it took you a few seconds to realize what was happening. And when you did, your eyes widened and you started struggling to get out of his grip. And when you did, you slapped his face and stalked out the door, heading for the hot springs. You seriously needed some alone time.

**Demyx's POV**

I didn't think that she'd actually slap me. I didn't mean the kiss to be perverted in any way, I just thought that maybe, if she saw that I'm not always so nervous, she might like me. And I'd thought that it had worked, until she started struggling, and now she probably hates my guts. Oh, why did I have to listen to Xibar's advice? I should know better than that!

"Woo-hoo! Go Demy!" Xibar drawled, "You should have seen her face! I think she liked it." He was grinning and applauding me.

I know that I should be flattered, but I can't help but feel that I ruined something good. Do I even have a chance now? Did I have a chance before? Oh! This is horrible; she hates me! "What am I going to do?" I cried.

"Do what I always do when I'm in doubt, my friend! Grab a chick, and bang her, hard! It always makes me feel better." Xibar looked off longingly, as if he were reliving a past event.

"You're sick!" I screamed. I suddenly knew what I had to do. I had to go apologize to Kryss. I quickly stood up from the chair that I'd been sitting in and ran out the door in her pursuit.

Before I was completely out of Xibar's ear shot I heard him mutter, "That Demyx, always on the run."

And it was true, I did run a lot, but usually it was away from something, something that I feared. This time, I was proud to say, I was running towards something. I still feared it, but at least I was going to apologize, I was going to make things better, get another chance. Yes, there was still hope.

**The Oracle's POV**

Kryss really did need to understand the responsibilities that she carried on her shoulders if she wanted to be my successor. She needed to grow up, to mature, and at the same time, her upbeat attitude, her boundless energy, could be a nice change for all dimensions. Life would probably seem more fresh and happy once she was the Oracle, but if she were to make a giant mistake because she was being careless or forgetful, I'm not sure that the dimension's balance could ever be fully restored.

And that's why I need Xemnas to let her stay with his organization for a while. To teach her responsibility and how meddling in other peoples affairs can lead to danger. I called Xemnas here to offer him the deal. It's a deal that I doubt that he can refuse, because, if she becomes more powerful and aware of her power she might be able to give them hearts. Its true that I would be able to right now, but there would be nothing in it for me. If Kryss learns to create hearts for Nobodies, at this age, then she could become one of the most powerful Oracles ever to rule the dimensions. It is after all, a well-known fact that female Oracles are more powerful than males. We do not know why this is, but I do have a few theories. A woman has strength in her that no man has, a will made of steel that cannot be bent. This comes from having loved ones and children that they feel they have the duty to protect. Men through out history have abused women multiple times, yet they still obey us and respect our wishes. A woman's heart is a most complex and mysterious thing. They can get attached to and love something that is not rationally lovable, or that cannot love back.

Take jewelry and clothes for an example. They are man made products with no hearts or unique abilities, yet a woman will love it only for its beauty and structure. And take a man for example, they might love a man for their good looks, and witty answers, or sweet-talking, and lovable gestures, but what mostly makes a man lovable to a woman is what is in the heart. Women have a unique ability to be able to look into someone else's heart and see their intentions, which brings up a very strange thing. Why do they ignore it? If they know that someone's intentions are less than kind, then why don't they protect themselves? I believe that it is our fault. Men's fault, because we have abused them in so many ways, they just seem to accept it as every woman's fate. Kryss has the power to look into someone else's heart too, and I do hope that she uses it to stay out of trouble. Because if she fails to become the next Oracle, if she fails her training or dies, then I have run out of time. I don't have enough time to raise another apprentice; I've already noticed some of my power starting to fade. If Kryss should fail, then all the dimensions and its inhabitants are doomed.

So when I heard a soft knock on my office door, I knew that it was Xemnas. "Come in." I said in a voice loud enough that he could hear. I intertwined my fingers, placed my elbows on the glass surface of the black marble desk, and leaned my chin on my fingers, watching the door intently.

Xemnas opened the door slowly and then swiftly walked into the room, taking a seat in the carved hickory chair covered in silk padding across from me. He sat with his arms resting on the chair's armrests and he met my gaze. He was all business. I sighed and leaned back in my chair, "I guess you're wondering why I had Kryss bring you here, and who exactly I am." I said. This was mostly guessing, since I had no idea what was going on inside his head. Oracles could probe around in other being's minds, but it is against our moral code to do so, but we still pretend as if we do to intimidate our foes and keep ourselves shrouded in mystery from the common human. Xemnas was no different.

His judging eyes never left my face as he nodded and replied, "I'd like to know that and what your deal would be."

A small smile appeared on my face, "What do you desire more than anything in else in the world?"

I saw surprise enter Xemnas's eyes, and then disbelief. Did he really doubt my power? Of course, he had every right to. He had probably already figured out that I was the Oracle since this was my mansion, but did he really know anything about us? Not many people did, only those who seek that knowledge will gain the answers. "You mean, you could give us hearts?" he finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I have the power to do that, yes." I wasn't going to make any promises. Once again, I didn't like meddling in other people's affairs, and this included creating hearts for others. This would affect the balance of the dimensions in some way, in what way, I was not sure, but I didn't really want to find out either.

Xemnas furrowed his eyebrows and seemed to be thinking about what to say next. He looked up and finally asked, "Who are you?"

"I am the current Oracle. Kryss is my apprentice, and when I come to pass, she will take my place as guardian of the dimensions, keeping balance and stability through all time and matter. Our power has no limits, we can keep on getting stronger and stronger, but it is not advised. You see, an Oracle's power comes from the amount of energy that they have inside of them. That energy can dwindle or grow, depending on the factors surrounding the Oracle. An Oracle grows stronger by replenishing the balance and creating new dimensions but looses power as they near their death or if the stability of the dimensions is greatly over turned. Oracles have always been there, manipulating lives and intertwining them. It is completely up to the current Oracle if they want to interfere in the affairs of others, and I have always chosen to stay out of it. We can twist time, matter, and the thoughts of others. We can turn evil to good, and good to evil. We can create tragedies, and perform miracles, all without anyone knowing. But our main job is to keep the balance, and if an Oracle doesn't go by that guide line, then they will become corrupt, and die, leaving all dimensions in turmoil." I don't usually talk much, since I hate to be a hypocrite, but explaining ourselves to others can't come in a few words. If Xemnas were to have asked Kryss the same question, she would have explained every little detail of our lives, strayed off of the subject several times, and probably would have kept talking straight for hours if not stopped. **Sigh**, she really needs to learn that peace and quiet can be nice sometimes, especially when I'm around.

Xemnas hadn't taken his eyes off of me once while I was talking, and when I finished he dove straight into I'd expected him to. "So if you give us hearts, then what do you want us to do for you?" He asked suspiciously.

"I won't give you hearts, as I've already said quite a few times, I don't meddle in other's affairs." He might turn down my offer, but still, it was worth a shot.

"Then why have you brought me here." Xemnas asked with anger in his voice. This was understandable, I'd just built up his hopes and then crushed them mercilessly, but there was a twist.

"Kryss needs to learn responsibility and maturity, and I have a feeling that she will gain both if she were to stay with the Organization for a while, in turn gaining knowledge, wisdom, and becoming more powerful. She will need to train every day, but that wouldn't be a problem since she has already learned the way of travel through portals. But she will need to spend time with people that can kill, hurt, and maim her. She has to learn the stability of things, the line between funny and annoying. She must grow up or else we are all doomed."

Xemnas's eyes flashed, "And what do we get out of this? You'd be the only one profiting from it." He snarled.

I sighed, talking really wore me down, "If she doesn't finish her training before I die, the worlds and dimensions will fall into turmoil and agony, no one will be spared. That will be your reward. And also, I have a feeling that Kryss is more empathic than I, if she gains enough power, she will be able to give you hearts. But that is completely up to her, I have no control over what she does, or does not do."

Xemnas was quiet for a while thinking over my offer. "So she will be able to give us hearts… And all she has to do is live with us. I think that it's a fair deal."

I smiled, this was perfect, "Careful, she can be quite a handful sometimes."

"So I've noticed. Now, if you would excuse me, I must check on the members of my Organization. They too, can be quite troublesome." He said as he stood up and strode towards the door.

"Then I have a feeling that they will get along fine." I replied, delighted that he had taken my offer.

When he reached the door he stopped and turned back to look at me, "What can I call you?" he asked.

I smiled again and softly closed my eyes, they were starting to get tired, "Oracle is just fine." You hadn't used your real name in such a long time that it just didn't feel right.

Xemnas nodded and slipped out the door, into the hallway, letting the door slam behind him. Finally, half of my plan was in place, all Kryss needed to do now was work hard, and maybe, we would be able to reach our goal before the deadline. Now I was going to take a nap, age had had its toll on me, and I could feel my energy seeping away day by day. As I closed my eyes I whispered softly, even though nobody could hear it but myself, "I'm counting on you Kryss. We all are…" And then so softly that I could only barely here it myself, "My darling, Princess Krystalia."


End file.
